Device for controlling and treating thread



Oct. 29, 1935- c. w. STRZALKOWSKI El AL 2,019,201

DEVICE FOR CONTROLLING AND TREATING THREAD Filed June 27, 1934 Patented Oct. 29, 1935 UNITED STATES DEVICE FOR CONTROLLING AND TREATING THREAD Charles W. Strzalkowski and Edmund J. Wendt, Milwaukee, Wis.

Application June 27, 1934, Serial No. 732,742

13 Claims.

new and improved means of the characteristics above mentioned.

Another object is the provision of a means including a pad or its equivalent which is adapted to make contact with a moving thread and which pad is universally adjustable within predetermined limits with respect to the thread.

A further object is to provide means for preventing the deformation of the pad, and, more particularly, even after it has become soaked with a liquid.

A still further object is to provide means for maintaining the position of the pad in a selected adjusted position with respect to the thread, and more specifically, to so maintain it irrespective of the wet or dry condition of the pad.

A more specific object is the provision of means whereby pads may be more economically used, and, ii desired, less expensive pads may be utilized.

Other objects will appear hereinafter as the description of the invention proceeds.

The novel features of the invention will appear from this specification and the accompanying drawing forming a' part thereof, showing several embodiments of our invention, and all these novel features are intended to be pointed out in the claims.

In the drawing Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view of one mode of use of our invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation on the line II]I of Fig. 3, looking in the direction of the arrows, showing one embodiment of our invention;

Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation taken on the line III-III of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 4 is a partial sectional elevation of a detail of a modified embodiment of our invention;

Fig. 5 is a partial sectional elevation of a modified embodiment of our invention, the pad and an associated part being shown in full elevation, in connection with the detail shown in Fig, 4; and

Fig. 6 is a partial sectional elevation of another modified embodiment of our invention.

Referring to Fig. l of the drawing there is provided a pad I, here shown as generally of U- shape, over the top of which a thread 2 is adapted 5 to be guided. The thread 2 is here shown as guided through eyelets 4, 5 which may be mounted in supports 6, I respectively disposed on opposite sides of the pad I. In this instance the supports 6, l are functionally integral with a receptacle 8 in which the pad I is disposed.

The receptacle 8, and therefore in this instance the supports 6, 1 may be carried by a bar or rail in through any suitable means as a hook 9 mounted with the receptacle 8. 15

The thread 2 is here shown as coming from a thread-cone 3 and before entering the eyelet 4 the thread may have a fluid applied thereto in any suitable manner, this being here shown as accomplished by a cylindrical roll ll disposed 20 in a bath of liquid 12 contained in a receptacle l3. If the thread, as indicated by the arrow head at the right hand end of the thread, proceeds toward the knitting machine or other device in a general direction toward the right, the roll H is desirably rotated in a counter-clockwise direction. However, the manner in which liquid is initially applied to the thread 2 is not material as far as the present invention is concerned. The liquid applied to the thread may for example be soapy water, but this would depend on the nature of the thread and the processes which it is to undergo. In fact, in certain aspects and uses of the invention it is unnecessary to apply any liquid at all.

The thread 2, after leaving the eyelet 5 may pass through a ring H! of suitable weight, this ring serving to maintain a desired degree of tension in the thread 2. The ring I4 is usually disposed around a vertical wire loop which is not shown because immaterial to the present invention. If used in a knitting machine, the thread 2 after passing through the ring I4 proceeds first upwardly to the right as indicated, then downwardly, and eventually to a device for pulling lengths of the thread from the thread cone 3.

It will be understood that the description of the mode of use of our invention in connection with Fig. 1 is merely illustrative and the inven- 50 tion is not limited to the details and mode of use described.

Referring now to Figs. 2 and 3 which show in detail one embodiment of the invention, the supports 6, I, of any suitable material, are here shown as made in a single piece with a member I which serves as the bottom of the receptacle 8. The pad I, here also shown as of U-shape, is provided with means I6 for preventing deformation of the bend of the U. The means I6 is in this instance thebend portion of a U-shaped 4 resilient member, in this instance a steel spring spring may be desirably plated or made of stainless steel, or it may be made of suitable material other than steel.

In order to complete the receptacle 8,\ nd pieces 23, 24 are provided, which may have their edges lapped over the walls 8, I and the bottom I5, as may be seen in Fig. 3, the joints being sealed as by soldering. Other suitable forms of receptacles will readily suggest themselves.

Where the pad is disposed in a receptacle, it is preferably made of less width than the distance between the walls 23, 24, as can be seen clearly in Fig. 3.

The eyelets 4, 5, made of any suitable material, but desirably of refractory or vitreous material, are here shown as provided with flanges on the ends thereof which face the pad I, so that in assembling the eyelets 4, 5 with the supports 6, I the cylindrical portions of the eyelets are pressed into and through suitable openings in the supports 8, I, from the inside of these supports outwardly. The eyelets 4, 5 may be held in tight frictional engagement with their respective supports by making the openings in these supports, with burred edges 21, 28 which provide a sufficient degree of resilience to enable the eyelets to be forced through the openings in the supports even if the diameter of these openings is slightly less than the outside diameter of the cylindrical portion of the eyelets. The eyelets 4, 5 may of course be cemented into the openings in the supports, and it will moreover be obvious that any other suitable form of eyelets may be utilized as far as other aspects of the invention are concerned.

In case the eyelets of the general form illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 are utilized, the normal position of the pad I is desirably such that the outer surfaces of the bend thereof contacts with the flanges 25, 26. Thus in case one of the eyelets should become loose, the pad I will resist the tendency of for example the eyelet 4 from being drawn out of the hole in the support 6 by the frictional action of the thread. It is possible for-the pad I to accomplish this function by reason of the fact that it is rigidly supported against deformation by the spring I6. It will of course be clear thatthe placing of the pad I against the flanges of the eyelets is not an essential feature of the principal invention.

If we assume that a thread is passing over the top of and in contact with the pad I, in time a slight groove will be worn in the pad by the frictional action of the thread in being drawn over the pad. It is not permissible to allow such a groove to become too deep for the reason that any knots in the thread will tend to become stuck in the groove thereby stopping the motion of the thread and usually breaking it. A sk led operator can tell by inspection of the pad whether the groove worn therein is becoming too pronounced, and in that case he can adjust the pad, a trifle, either to the right or left, as viewed in Fig. 3,

so that the pad will present a new surface to 5 the thread. It will be obvious that the range of sidewise adjustment of the 'pad I can be made such that substantially the entire width of the pad I may be utilized before it is necessary to renew the pad. 10

When the surface of the pad has become unusable it may be discarded and a new one folded around the spring I6, I'I, I8, or if desired, the original pad may be turned over and bent the other way so that the unusedsurface, previously 15 in contact with the spring- I6, will then be presented toward the thread.

It will of course be apparent that the amount of frictional engagement between the pad and the thread can be regulated to a fine adjustment by simply grasping the ends of the pad, nlcug with the spring I6, and moving the assemblage either up or down to the desired selected position, so that the upper surface of the pad may press transversely against thethread to any desired degree.

By reason of the fact that the pad I is adjustable in its general plane both vertically and horizontally as viewed for example in Fig. 3, its adjustability is substantially universal.

As the thread passes over the pad I the liquid which has been applied thereto is uniformly distributed around-and along the same by the wiping action of the pad with respect to the thread. Some of the liquid is of course absorbed by the pad and in time the pad becomes thoroughly saturated, and even the better grades of pads will become soft and pliant. This is however immaterial for the reason that in the present invention the pad is thoroughly supported against deformation, and the arched top of the pad cannot sink, or be pressed down by the thread. Nor can the pad be displaced from its selected position by reason of vibration of the machine since it is flrmly held in engagement with the supporting surfaces by means of the action of the spring Il, I8.

Among other functions performed by the spring II, I8, the burs or lips I9, 20 provided on the ends of the spring insure against relative displacement as between the pad and the spring. The supporting means for the pad is desirably made in the form of a receptacle if liquid is applied to thread, since when the pad has become saturated, any excess of liquid will be caught in the receptacle. However, it will be evident that even in aspects of the invention involving the application of a liquid to the thread, an individual receptacle beneath each pad I, is not essential. And of course where no liquid is used, the pad need not bedisposed in or above a receptacle at all.

The pad used with our invention may be of fibre felt or so-called thread-structure or woven felt, or any other suitable material. Fibre felts and other fibrous materials of a soft nature, though much softer and much less resilient than thread-structure felts, may nevertheless be used with our invention because of the provision of means for preventing their deformation. Furthermore, the resilience of the pad is not relied upon to maintain the pad in a selected adjusted position and therefore materials lacking resilience may be utilized.

It will be apparent that the pad may be supported against deformation, and may be adjustably mounted with respect to a. support in other ways than as shown and described in connection with Figs. 2 and 3. Another way in which this can be accomplished is shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

Referring first to Fig. 4, there is here shown a pair of supports 6, 1 similar to those shown in Fig. 2. The support 6 may have a leaf spring 29 fastened thereto in any suitable manner, as by means of rivets 3|. The spring 29 is bent away from its point of attachment to the support 6 so that it assumes a position such as indicated in Fig. 4 when no stresses are brought to bear upon the spring. The angle that the spring 29 makes with the support 8 will be an angle determined principally by the strength of the spring. The free end of the spring 29 may be provided with a flange or lip 30 extending laterally toward the support 6.

Referring now to Fig. 5 there is here shown a pad 32 which is bent to generally U-shaped form around a block 35. The block is semi-cylindrical at its upper end, the sides of the block merging with and tangent to the semi-cylindrical surface being desirably plane, so that the shanks 33, 34 of the pad 32 which are adapted to engage therewith will present substantially plane outer surfaces. The said plane surfaces of the block are desirably beveled at their lower edges 36, 31, the shanks 33, 34 being long enough to make contact with these beveled edges. The pad may be fastened to the block 35 in any suitable manner, this being here indicated as by means of tacks 38 which are driven through the ends of the shanks of the pad into the beveled surfaces 36, 31. The beveled lower edges of the pad and block assemblage facilitate insertion thereof between the supports 6, I.

It will be evident that when the block 35 and pad 33, 34 are inserted into the receptacle or between the supports 6, 7, the spring 29 will be bent toward the support 6 to the position shown in Fig. 5, in which the end of flange 30 contacts the support 6. The shank 33 and the spring 29 are resiliently held in frictional engagement and at the same time the spring 29 forces the shank 35 into frictional engagement with the support I. The lip or flange 30 is desirably provided to prevent the lower end of the spring 29 from being bent away from the surface of the shank 33.

It will be apparent that the modification of Figs. 4 and 5 provides a construction in which deformaiton of the pad is prevented, and also,

in which the pad may be adjusted with respect to the thread, in a manner analogous to that explained in connection with Figs. 2 and 3. These results may also be accomplished by the modification shown in Fig. 6.

Referring now more particularly to Fig. 6, this shows a pair of supports 6, I between which a U-shaped pad 39 is adapted to be disposed. The shanks 40, 4| of the pad are laid against the sides of a block 42 of the same external general shape as the block 35 in Fig. 5. However in this case the block is provided with'a hole 43 extending transversely through the block, and disposed loosely in this hole is a helical spring 48. The spring 46 is of sufficient over-all length and strength so that when the pad and block are disposed between the supports 6, l as shown in Fig. 6, the spring 44 is compressed and by its reaction forces the shanks 40, 4! of the pad against the supports 6, I respectively. It will therefore be apparent that the pad is held in adiustable frictional engagement with the supports. The block 42 maybe made with beveled lower edges, as the block 85, Fig. 5, or it may be made of such width that the combined width of 5' the block plus the thicknesses of the shanks II is somewhat less than the distance between the supports 6, I, thereby permitting more ready insertion of the block and pad assemblage between those supports. The blocks 35 (Fig.' 5), and 42 (Fig. 6) may be made of any suitable material, as for example treated wood, a phenolic condensation product, and so on.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the embodiment of our invention illustrated 15 in Figs. 2 and 3 presents various advantages in that, among other things, a single unitary member provides means for resisting deformation of the pad, means for adjustably holding the pad and its support in engagement, and means for 20 preventing relative displacement of the pad and the means for resisting its deformation. It will be further obvious from the disclosures that these and other functions may -be performed in varying degrees by means which may assume a 26 variety of forms, variously changed and modifled within the spirit of the invention."

In general it will be clear to-those skilled in the art that the features of our invention need not all be used in any one embodiment, and 30 may be individually or collectively variously changed and modified without departing from the spirit of the invention, or sacrificing all of the advantages thereof, and accordingly that the disclosures herein are illustrative only, and that 35 the invention is not limited thereto.

We claim:

1. In combination: a- U-shaped pad; a U-shaped spring conforming approximately to the inside surface of said pad; supporting means for said $9 pad, having surfaces opposite the outer faces of the shanks of said pad respectively between and by which surfaces said pad is frictionally held suspended, said surfaces being spaced apart a distance such that said spring presses the shanks of 45 said pad against said surfaces respectively; and means adapted to guide a thread over and in contact with the outer surface of the bend of said pad.

2. In combination: a U-shaped pad; a U-shaped spring conforming approximately to the inside surface of said pad; means for preventing relative displacement of said pad and said spring; supporting means for said pad, having surfaces opposite he outer faces of the shanks of said pad respectively between and by which surfaces said pad is frictionally held suspended, said surfaces being spaced apart a distance such .hat said spring presses the shanks of said pad against said surfaces respectively; and means adapted to guide a thread over and in contact with the outer surface of the bend of said pad.

3. In combination: a U-shaped pad; a U-shaped spring conforming approximately to theinside surface of said pad; means comprising burs on the respective ends of said spring directed against the inside surfaces of said shanks respectively; supporting means for said pad having surfaces opposite the outer faces of the shanks of said pad respectively between and by which surfaces said pad is frictionally held suspended, said surfaces being spaced apart a distance such that said spring presses the shanks of said pad against said surfaces respectively; and means adapted to guide a thread over and in contact with the outer surface of the bend of said pad.

4. In combination: a U-shaped pad; means adapted to guide a thread over and in contact with-the outer surface of the bend of said pad: a receptacle, having four walls and a bottom, for receiving said pad in contact with two opposite walls, said padbeing of substantially less width than the distance between the other two walls; and means for adjustably holding said pad in contact with said first two named walls in selected positions with respect to said thread.

5. In combination: a U-shaped pad; means adapted to guide a thread over and in contact with the outer surface of the bend of said pad; a receptacle, having four walls and a bottom, for receiving said pad in contact with two opposite walls, said pad being of substantially less width than the distance between thaother two walls; and means for adjustably holding said pad in contact with said first two named walls in selected positions with respect to said thread; said means comprising a U-shaped spring conforming approximately to the inside surface of said pad. o

6. In combination: a U-shaped pad; means adapted to guide a thread over and in contact with the outer surface of the bend of said pad; a receptacle, having four walls and a bottom, for receiving said pad in contact with two opposite walls, said pad being of substantially less width than the distance between the other two walls; means for adjustably holding said pad in contact with said first two named walls in se-' lected positions with respect to said thread, said I means comprising a U-shaped spring conforming approximately to the inside surface of said pad; and means for preventing relative displacement of said pad and said spring.

7. In combination: a U-shaped pad; means adapted to guide a thread over and in contact with the outer surface of the bend of said pad; a receptacle for receiving said pad in contact with two opposite walls of said receptacle; and means for adjustably holding said pad in contact with said walls, to suspend said pad from said walls comprising a U-shaped leaf spring conforming approximately to the inside surface of said pad.

8. In combination: a pad; means adapted to guide a thread over and in contact with said pad; and supporting means whereby said pad may be adjusted in a direction transversely against said thread and whereby said pad is frictionally supported and held in adjusted position comprising, means for resiliently holding in frictional engagement surfaces on said pad and said supporting means respectively, said surfaces moving with respect to each other during said adjustment, and means for resisting deformation of said pad.

9. In combination: a pad; means adapted to guide a thread over and in contact with said pad; and supporting means whereby said pad may be adjusted in a direction transversely against said thread and in a direction at right angles to said transverse direction and whereby said pad is frictionally supported and held in adjusted position comprising, means for resiliently holding in frictional engagement surfaces on said pad and'said supporting means respectively, said surfaces moving with respect to each other during said adjustment, and means for resisting deformation 6 of said pad.

10. In combination: a U-shaped pad; means adapted to guide a thread over and in contact with the outside of the bend of said pad; and supporting means whereby said'pad maybe ad- 10 justed in a direction transversely against said thread and whereby said pad is frictionally supported and held in adjusted position comprising, means for resiliently holding in frictional engagenient surfaces on said pad and said support- 15 ing means respectively, said surfaces moving with respect to each other during said adjustment, and means for resisting deformation of said pad.

11. In combination: a U-shaped pad; means adapted to guide a thread over and in contact with the top of the bend of said pad; and supporting means whereby said pad may be adjusted in a direction transversely against said thread and in a direction at right angles to said transverse direction and whereby said pad is frictionally supported and held in adjusted position comprising, means for resiliently holding in frictional engagement surfaces on said pad and said supporting means respectively, said surfaces moving with respect to each other during said adjustment, and means for resisting deformation of said pad.

12. In combination: a U-shaped pad; means adapted to guide a thread over and in contact with the outside of the bend of said pad; and supporting means whereby said pad may be adjusted in a direction transversely against said thread and whereby said pad is frictionally supported and held in adjusted position comprising means for resiliently holding in frictional engagement surfaces on said pad and said supporting means respectively, said surfaces moving with respect to each other during said adjustment, find means conforming to the inside of the bend of said pad for supporting said bend.

13. In combination: a pad having curved outer and inner surfaces; means adapted to guide a thread over and in contact with an outer curved surface of said pad; and supporting means for said pad as a whole whereby said pad may be adjusted in a direction transversely against said thread and whereby said pad is frictionally supported and held in adjusted position comprising, means for resiliently holding in frictional engagement surfaces on said pad and said supporting means respectively, said surfaces moving with respect to each other during said adjustment, and means of material stiffer than said pad conforming to the inner surface of said pad opposite said outer curved surface for supporting said outer curved surface.

CHARLES W. STRZALKOWSKI. EDMUND J. WENDT. 

